CBS Blasted for Claiming Jerusalem Slayings Took Place at ‘Contested Religious Site’

Email a copy of "CBS Blasted for Claiming Jerusalem Slayings Took Place at ‘Contested Religious Site’" to a friend

CBS anchor Nora O'Donnell said the Jerusalem synagogue attack on Oct. 18 took place at a "contested religious site." Photo: Screenshot.

The CBS This Morning news show was attacked by media watchdog Honest Reportingfor claiming that Tuesday’s terrorist attack at a Jerusalem synagogue took place at a “contested” religious location.

Introducing a report from Jerusalem, anchorwoman Nora O’Donnell said, “The two Palestinian attackers died in a shootout with police. It happened at a contested religious site in Jerusalem.”

In fact, the terror atrocity took place at a synagogue in Jerusalem’s Har Nof neighborhood. Honest Reporting noted “There is, of course, nothing ‘contested’ about the synagogue… Nor is there anything ‘contested’ about Har Nof itself, a Jewish neighborhood in the western side of Jerusalem.”

Five people were killed when two Palestinians stormed the synagogue during Tuesday’s morning prayers. The victims included three U.S. citizens and one Israeli Druze soldier. The two assailants were later shot dead by police.

Among the many other media gaffes Honest Reporting spotted following Tuesday’s murderous terror attack was CNN’s erroneous report that the incident took place at a “Jerusalem mosque.” The media watchdog pointed out, CNN’s initial headline – “4 Israelis, 2 Palestinians killed in synagogue attack” – “also failed, leaving readers to wonder whether 2 Palestinians were also victims of the attack, giving moral equivalence to terrorists and their victims.”